


Guardian Angel of Trouble Twins

by dianamoth (lunaemoth)



Series: The Guardian Crow [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Crows, F/M, Fix-It, Humor, No Uchiha Massacre, Other, POV First Person, Reincarnation, Summons & Summoning Meta, Talking Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-02 17:16:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16791274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaemoth/pseuds/dianamoth
Summary: Reincarnating as a crow was nicer than you would think... until the Trouble Twins found the summoning scroll for the Karasu. Then they grew on her, and she had to save their lives. How annoying. They better gave her lots of almonds or she would elope with the ninken summoner!Uchiha Massacre Fix-it





	1. Blind a Cyclops

**Author's Note:**

> This was first published on ff.net, and I have recently decided to add my Naruto fics there too. 
> 
> I'm french, and this isn't beta-ed. Sorry for any mistakes. Don't hesitate to send me a nice review with a correction. However, this has been edited compared to the ff.net version.

Reincarnation was nice.

Reincarnating as a crow was nicer than you would think. Especially when we were talking about the Karasu summons, beings able to talk and use ninjutsu, living in a very nice and green place where food was in easy reach and no-one bothered them.

For years, I thought I had lucked out at the afterlife lottery. Can you, little human beings, imagine a life without the stress of school and work? What a nice life that would be, uh? Yeah. Just in case that ever happens to you, newsflash: there's always a catch.

My name – my name as a Karasu – was Tsukiyo. I forgot most of my past life, including my past name, and I wasn't sad about it. It was already quite confusing to know that this was my second life, I didn't need to dwell on what I lost. The Karasu's mentality helped a lot to put things into perspective. Things were just… simpler here.

For years, I lived and learned on Ichouki, the sacred ginkgo tree, blissfully appreciating this easy life. I knew of the world around us. I knew about the shinobi, and I guessed that this was a place very similar to the world of Naruto (what was 'Naruto'? I wondered for days before remembering that it was one of those stories I read about, just like the one with the magic school castle or the one with the elves and the evil ring. I tried to remember those stories; they were more entertaining than the mundane life I had lived previously). I had no interest in discovering the world further. None whatsoever.

The world had other ideas.

It might have been my fault, at least a little, but I had never considered that being known as the smartest crow after our leader, Yatagarasu, could be a bad thing. Why should I hide my capacities? Why holding back my thirst for knowledge? It didn't seem to matter at the time. But I'll tell you why: because humans were annoying, that's why!

The Karasu's summoning scroll had been considered lost. Some of the elders thought that it was a waste, that a connection with the shinobi world was important for the status of our kind. The Crows used to be important in the summoning hierarchy, but now it was all about the Toads, the Snakes, and the Snails, blah blah… Who cares? Peace was more important than reputation, in my opinion.

One day, the unexpected happened. The news spread like wildfire: we had a summoner! Who's it? Who's it? The crowd asked. An Uchiha from Konoha, the proud summon first called announced proudly. And guess what? There would be another one too if the Elder allowed it!

I mentally prayed for the Elder to say no, but that was wishful thinking. Of course, the Elder said yes to Uchiha Shisui and his best friend Uchiha Itachi. They were intelligent, resourceful, and they supported each other, all traits that the Karasu approved of. Then there were the rumors about their playfulness: Shisui was a joker, while Itachi was more subtle, teasing and sarcastic. Playfulness was also greatly appreciated by our species. They would have reverse-summoned themselves to the Karasu instead of finding the long lost scroll that it wouldn't have been surprising.

I am not ashamed to admit that I sulked for several weeks. I didn't want to have anything to do with those humans. I remembered enough of their story to know that they were trouble waiting to happen. Hell, if I remembered it right, they had the gall to use one of us to implant a Sharingan! That's creepy!

Those were the Trouble Twins, marked my words, I used to grumble when the subject was mentioned. Apparently, my fellow Karasu thought this was so hilarious that the name stuck. Note to myself: you should keep your thoughts to yourself, especially around the worst gossips.

So, I was minding my own business – sulking – when _it_ happened, the thing that I dreaded: the summoning. Let it be said that being summoned sucked: you didn't have the luxury to say "oh, I'm a little busy right now, try again later", no, it was just a brief feeling of warning and then woosh, that weird sensation of being squashed into space and wham, rough landing. I was jumping from one branch to another, okay? Of course, I was going to crash if you put some ground where there was supposed to be air!

I rubbed my beak with my wing and glared at the little crow laughing at me. The runt quieted down quickly, jumped on the other shoulder of his summoner – short hair so probably Shisui – to be as far away from me as possible and cleared his throat to explain: "They asked for the smartest of us, so I gave them your name." He thought I would be flattered.

I cawed at him surly.

He turned his beak up. "Well, that's just rude."

I could feel the curious gazes of the humans on me, but I wasn't interested in them. I hopped around and inspected the surroundings. It looked like a training ground. There was no-one around except for the two Uchiha so this couldn't be a fight emergency. Good because I would have bailed on them if it was. The nice thing about summoning was that even if you couldn't resist it, you could leave anytime afterward. You weren't supposed to of course, unless you had been dismissed by your summoner or you had a good reason (according to contracts, honor and all that jazz). Some crows would have disapproved, but I was relatively high on the hierarchy and not combat-oriented so I could have gotten away with it.

"Hello." The long-haired one stepped in front of me and crouched, offering his hand. "I'm Uchiha Itachi and this is Shisui."

I stared at them for a few seconds, enough to deduce that they were prepubescent. I would say eleven for Itachi, thirteen or fourteen for Shisui. That meant they weren't going to kill their clan anytime soon. Great. Not my problem then. I hopped farther to inspect some berries. Were they blackberries? There weren't any like these near Ichouki, I wanted some! But there were thorns. Not nice.

"Here." Itachi carefully took some berries from the bush and offered them to me. Of course, the kid was nice and patient… Ah, damn. Pff, resistance was futile, I guessed. I ate the berries – yummy! – and hopped on his forearm. "I never met any crow with eyes like yours," he noted as he walked back to Shisui.

"She's the only one with eyes like the moon!" The little sneak agreed. I finally managed to remember his name: Higarasu, one of the many grandkids of the Elder.

"Well, I guess the name makes sense then, grey eyes and black feathers with a blue hue… Moonlit night, uh? That's a pretty name," Shisui noted with a smile.

I sighed and shook my wings. "Flattery will get you nowhere." I glanced at the bushes and added: "Bribery, however, I might condone. What do you need me for?"

That's one of the reasons I didn't want to explore the world: I had a weakness for discovering and trying new food. If I started, I would end up disappointed by Ichouki's abundant but limited choices.

"Well… we mostly wanted to meet the one calling us Trouble Twins," Shisui explained cheekily.

I turned toward Higarasu and _glared_.

"It's not me!" he shouted. "It's not me! I swear! I didn't tell them!"

"Another crow told us that the smartest lady crow called us that way," Itachi explained.

"Great, so you just gave them my name, idiot. As long as they didn't know my name, I could have had some peace and quiet," I grumbled. They could only summon specific crows based on names or special abilities – I had checked that detail with the elders.

"Aww, you don't like us, Tsukiyo-chan?" The infuriating Shisui pouted.

"It's in your nickname: you're trouble. I don't like trouble. I like peace."

"How do you know that we're trouble?" Itachi asked curiously and calmly. "We never met before."

I hopped on his shoulder and settled down. "I just knew."

"How?" Shisui insisted.

"Look, you might be our summoners, but I don't trust you yet."

"That's understandable," Itachi accepted without a blink. "I look forward to working with you, Tsukiyo-san."

That sounded foreboding to me, and _it_ _was_ because, for reasons unknown, I ended up being Itachi's go-to crow. Just my luck.

oOo

I had a doubt (the story's chronology was a bit fuzzy in my head, and I wasn't sure that it was only because I forgot things), but Itachi was already in ANBU.

The next time he summoned me, I was proud to succeed my entrance and doubly so when I noticed who was around: ANBU everywhere, and oh, look at that, grey hair and a pug, hello Kakashi and Pakkun. I kinda liked them a lot so go me for not embarrassing myself on our first meeting!

It was the middle of the night (they were lucky that I liked watching the moon more than I liked to sleep, I wouldn't have been a happy crow otherwise). There were six ANBU that I could sense, hidden in the trees around a mansion. No pleasantries tonight then, there was some work to do. Urgh, goodbye peace.

Itachi held out his hand to show three almonds. Oooh, almonds! There were no almonds at Ichouki. Sweet almonds, I missed you so much. Fine, since he had such good tastes, I wasn't going to embarrass the kid in front of his coworkers by whining too much. I shook my wings in a pleased manner as I savored the nuts and looked up to show that I was ready to listen.

"I need you to do some recon, Tsukiyo-san. We're looking for the master of the house. He's always changing his room so we don't know in which one he is. Find him, his exact position, the number of bodyguards watching over him and any other information that you can collect."

"Don't you need to describe the target to it?" asked a bird mask.

"Please," I said, offended, "like it's hard to find the most obnoxious human in the place. And I'm a she. If you're going to wear that mask, do it with a little more respect." I took flight, barely hearing Kakashi as he noted:

"Your summon has some cheek, Yasu."

Damn right. I knew humans: they thought they were the brightest species; they had to be taught better. Wait a second... Yasu? That was Itachi's code name in Anbu? " _Calm_ "? Ah! Not bad. I wondered who had chosen it.

Anyway, this recon work was new tp me, but I was determined to ace it, at least to shut the bird mask guy up. Being quiet and discrete wasn't hard, it was how I flew and lived every day. Finding the master of the house was a little trickier, no matter what I said, mostly because this mansion was _huge_. Eavesdropping ended up being my best option. After that, I kept watch until I was sure to have localized every bodyguard by chakra sense (one of my specialties).

Then I had to find Itachi again, using mostly chakra sense since I didn't have a great night vision. I nearly crashed in a branch as it was before Itachi caught me.

"Don't ever call me during a moonless night, okay? Like, ever. Crows are not nocturnal, kid."

"Noted," Itachi replied before offering me two more almonds, probably to apologize, although I was pretty sure that he already knew it and that he only summoned me because the sky was clear and the moon full. Urgh, I was getting fond of him, that was _bad_.

I reported dutifully, informing them that their target was awake and busy doing the naughty with some company. I got two other almonds in return and savored them gleefully while they conferred about their plan.

I was asked to transmit a signal between two teams which seemed fine by me, that couldn't be very dangerous. I perched on the tip of a rooftop and watched for the glint of the sword I was told about before cawing twice. That might have been suspicious considering that my kind was supposed to sleep at this hour, but I wasn't expecting all those hired muscles to know much about birds' habits, and rightly so. I didn't see anything of the fighting or murdering, but I heard enough. Urgh, shinobi… Thank every kami that I wasn't reincarnated as one of them.

After a few minutes (that was surprisingly quick but, well: super-secret ninja assassins…), Itachi appeared below and raised his arm in a silent invitation. I flew down, perched on his forearm and accepted two more almonds. I was going to be too fat to fly at this rate, but I didn't care.

"Thank you for your help, Tsukiyo-san, you may go," he murmured.

I was ready to do so when I noticed the drops of blood on his mask. It hid his face, but he was still small, too small to be a killer. Eleven and an assassin, when he was a pacifist at heart, this was heart-breaking. I didn't know how he managed to stay sane. On a whim, I hopped on his shoulder and put a wing around his head before patting it gently.

Mh… hugging was definitely harder in bird form. That was embarrassing. Ignoring his puzzled glance, I reverse-summoned myself.

oOo

Sometime later, I was summoned in daylight but most importantly in the fucking middle of a battle.

"Don't panic," Itachi told me, "we're hidden by a genjutsu."

Well, that was reassuring, but only because he was supposed to be a genius at them so he better not disappoint. "Fight is _not_ my specialty," I felt obliged to remind him.

"That's not what I need. We're in a trap that can only be deactivated from the outside, I need you to do it."

"Oh. Ok, that's easy." I eagerly took flight, getting away from flying kunai and shuriken in a hurry. Now, remember when I said I should stop talking sometimes? That instance was a good example. _Easy_ was definitely not how I would have described it in retrospect.

The ANBU team was trapped in a canyon, the stone walls being death traps and the two entries being sealed shut. I only managed to get away by flying high, and for that, I had to dodge more weapons than I would have like to ever meet in all of my lives. When I finally got out, it was to find that the enemies – missing-nin apparently, very organized missing-nin might I add – had left a guard near the seal. I had to draw him out, drop a _very_ heavy stone on his head from high enough that he fell unconscious, and _then_ I used my beak to free the paper seal from a boulder, taking a small chakra shock in passing when I accidentally touched the ink. Once it was finally done, I cawed loudly to signal Itachi and ended up announcing my position to enemies in the process.

Before a katana could slice me in half, I was swept away by an ANBU with silver hair as he killed the bad guy in two moves. I made myself as inconspicuous as possible while the group of ANBU fled the death trap, taking refuge in a forest after five minutes of running.

At a silent signal, they stopped on the branches of an oak. I huddled against my savior's face. "You're now my favorite human ever."

That broke the tense mood, and several of them chuckled, Hatake Kakashi included. He carefully stroked the top of my head with a finger. Yep, definitely my favorite. "I was just returning the favor," he said. "Thanks for getting us out of here. Yasu, good call on summoning her."

Perched on a nearby and lower branch, my little summoner nodded and held out his arm. I flew to it and greedily accepted my reward, savoring it as they talked about their mission. I shut them out, more preoccupied with almonds than by missing-nin working together.

"Tsukiyo-san," Itachi called.

Mouth full, I looked up and made some noise in answer.

"Can you carry a message to Hokage-sama?"

I swallowed and asked warily: "How far are we?" My inner GPS said "very far" and "home is north-east, summoner's home is south-east". The Karasu GPS was infallible but not very precise at long distance.

"We should be there in two days."

So basically a day for me since I wouldn't be able to fly all night. Great. "You owe me so much food," I grumbled.

"Ask Shisui if you see him at home," Itachi offered, but I could sense a little annoyance in his tone. Ah, so he wasn't imperturbable!

I patted him on the head with my wing. "Don't pout. You're my favorite summoner, alright? And the Silver Head has a preference for dogs, I won't go and fly away in the sunset with him."

There were some more chuckles as Itachi shook his head (in embarrassment? Hard to tell with this mask).

"I'm sure that Pakkun would love you," Kakashi replied as he finished his message and rolled up the small scroll.

"Wolves are good friends. I suppose dogs could be nice too," I pondered.

Itachi tied the scroll to my leg then poked me between the eyes. "Stop fooling around."

"Whatever you say, favorite summoner of mine," I chirped before taking flight.

I had mixed feelings about playing messenger. On one hand: peace and flight, two of my favorite things. On the other hand: having something tied to me was messing up my habits, and it was annoying. I nearly got caught and eaten by a hawk because of it! Stupid hawk and stupid scroll...

I was quite pleased with my rapidity since I arrived at Konoha the following morning, a few hours before what I had planned. I went to the Hokage tower and took a few seconds to identify the right office before landing on the windowsill. I tapped on the glass, attracting the attention of a tall man with pineapple hair. That was the jounin commander Nara Shikaku if I wasn't mistaken. I liked Nara: they were my kind of _not troublesome_ people. Too bad they weren't the ones who had found our summoning scroll.

Shikaku opened the window for me. I greeted him politely: "Hello. I have a message for the Hokage from Yasu." I had no idea if there was some kind of protocol for those things, in doubt politeness and brevity couldn't hurt.

The commander offered me his forearm and removed the scroll tied to me before holding it to the Hokage without a word.

"Mh. I see. Thank you for your diligence, Karasu-san," the Hokage said after reading it.

I took it for the dismissal it was but replied before immediately unsummoning myself: "You're welcome Hokage-sama. May I say? I love your hat, but that smoke can't be good for you."

I never liked the smoking smell, sue me.

oOo

"Yatagarasu-sama?"

Our Elder had three legs, but in truth he didn't use them much. He was far too old to move without help. He lived on the top of the sacred ginkgo tree. It was an exercise in flight and balance to visit him. It was however quite worth it considering that his mind was still as sharp as ever.

"Ah, Tsukiyo-chan, come, child, and tell me what troubles you today."

Let's be honest, no-one, not even his own grandchildren, came to bother him with as many questions as I did. I always had a great fondness for him, ever since I asked him, when I was only a fledgling barely learning how to fly, if he believed in reincarnation. "Of course, my dear," he replied to me without hesitation, "your grandmother was one in fact, and she told me a lot about living under the seas. Isn't it a fascinating idea? That you can explore the underwater world in one life and the airs in another? Fascinating, truly. So I suppose you're one too, uh? You certainly have the sharp mind to be one. Tell me all about it." My grandmother was a dolphin in her past life. Could you believe it? That's _awesome_! I wanted to be a dolphin in my next life, if I had one. Ah, it was too bad that my grandmother died before my birth, when she was helping one of our early summoners, I would have loved to talk to her.

Anyway, I'm digressing. Back to the problem at hand.

"It's about our summoners, Yatagarasu-sama."

"Aah… The Trouble Twins."

I nearly faceplanted. Did everyone know about that nickname? Apparently, yes. I really had to keep my mouth shut more often, I was embarrassing myself.

"I suppose this has something to do with the book you told me about, the story happening in this world…"

"Yes, Yatagarasu-sama. They're both characters of the book."

"Tell me about them."

I was desperate for advice, so I gladly did. It was hard to make some sense of it, since the Uchiha massacre was a complicated plot that was fragmented in the books as well as in my mind. Nonetheless, the Elder followed and nodded his head in understanding.

"I see why this troubles you. Two paths are upon you: either you let it happen as you think it will or you intervene. What does your heart tell you?"

I squirmed. That was the problem: I was getting fond of those boys. "To do what I can to help them."

"Then do so." Before I could protest and explain my doubts, he added: "You can't change the past nor can you predict the future, even with the knowledge you have. The only thing you can act on is the present. Here and now, would you rather wait and worry or would you help? That is the only question deserving answer. What will come as consequences of your actions will be dealt with as they come. The Karasu will help you on this path if it's the one you chose."

Well, seen from this angle… how could I let the lives of my summoners go to hell?

oOo

Let it be said that changing the world as a summon wasn't easy. With my fuzzy memory, I had only been able to remember some of the events, and I had no idea when they will happen.

By now, Itachi was twelve and Shisui fifteen. I knew those details because some of the crows were way too much emotionally invested in the life of our summoners. They liked to chatter about playing with Itachi's brother too, which made me very glad that Itachi had enough sense to not call me for that. He only summoned me for important things (because I'm an important crow! right, fine, no preening), which I always thought was great but didn't play in my favor right now.

I had two options: acting all by myself, in which case I had to wait to be summoned in Konoha and given some leeway; or talking with the Trouble Twins, in which case I had to wait to be summoned in non-urgent and non-hostile conditions which basically meant in Konoha. As time passed by without offering an opportunity, I had to provoke one.

Itachi had summoned me for recon once again (without bragging, I was becoming great at it) for an Anbu mission. I didn't know what they were doing in Sand, but that wasn't my business. This place had way too little trees for my taste. Not enough shadows, too hot, nothing interesting to eat... Zero stars, do not recommend.

The only interest of this mission was meeting Kakashi's biggest dog, Bull, who let me rest in his shadow, between his paws.

"I take note: ninken are a good alternative to wolves," I announced very seriously as Kakashi stroke my back. I could get used to this.

My favorite summoner sighed. "Please don't spoil her, taichou."

"Maa, don't be jealous, Yasu-kun," Kakashi replied playfully, although he let Itachi take me back. Messing with the summons of others was bad form after all.

Before I unsummoned myself, my job being done, I rubbed my head against Itachi's hand and said: "Tell Shisui I need to talk to him urgently."

In my basic chronology, Shisui was the one in immediate danger. I didn't know when but I knew that he would be the first to die, and his death would be dramatic for Itachi and any hope to prevent the Uchiha Massacre.

For several days, I waited expectantly until I became quite impatient and frazzled. This business was bad for my nerves.

"Finally!" I shouted as soon as I appeared in the back of a garden in Konoha.

Crouched in front of me, his forearms on his knees, Shisui stared at me with amusement and a hint of curiosity. "Hello to you too, Tsukiyo-chan."

Behind him, Itachi was leaning against a tree. "I'm sorry Tsukiyo-san, but our schedules didn't match for a while."

"Okay, fine, you're forgiven," I mumbled, dismissing the matter. Shisui was still alive and with both eyes, so everything was fine, I couldn't take it out on them. I had better things to focus on, like how I was going to explain everything to them since that was the path I was on. I shook my wings.

"You look agitated, Tsukiyo-chan," Shisui noted more seriously. "And it's unusual for you to ask for me. What's going on?"

"Remember when we first met? You asked how I knew that you were trouble…"

"Yes."

"Well… I… know things, like what's happening between your clan and your village, and–" Before I could react, I was lifted from the ground, and we disappeared from the garden to reappear in the middle of the forest several seconds later. Shisui put me down once again.

I took several steps to regain my bearings. "Urgh, I don't like that shunshin business," I mumbled, wings widely spread for balance.

"Are you a seer?" Shisui asked. Itachi, having followed, pinched his lips.

"No, no, nothing so fancy. I just know things about the past and about the future as it's set right now. Let's not waste time on technicalities, alright? Back on track. As I was saying, I know what's going on and what you're planning to do to stop it with those fancy eyes of yours."

Shisui burst into laughter.

I squinted at him. "Did you snap? Is it madness setting in?"

The corner of Itachi's lips rose slightly. "Your casualness toward the Sharingan and especially Shisui's ability is… refreshing."

"Right," I drawled. Humans were weird. "Anyway, stop interrupting me, Trouble Twin number one! I was going to say that you're in danger, you doofus!" I slapped a wing on the top of his head... no, I wished, the only thing I managed to reach was his foot.

All traces of amusement left Itachi's face. "How so?"

"The elder with one eye all bandaged… what's his name again?"

"Shimura Danzou?"

Even Shisui stopped laughing at that name.

"Yeah! That!" I pointed at Itachi with the tip of my wing, triumphant at finally having his name! This had bugged me for weeks and impossible to remember it. "Let's call him Cyclops for short!" No need to pollute my brain with this after all. "So, Cyclops wants to steal your eyes, Shisui, before you use them on your clan. He wants them for himself," I announced, glad to have finally said it and warn them. "And if he succeeds…" I hopped from one foot to the other. "Well… nothing good will happen."

"Tsukiyo-chan, we need to know more than that. What did you see… know?"

I sighed and fluttered my wings. "If _your_ plan doesn't succeed then you'll die, Itachi will be pushed to kill your clan, everyone in it, except for his brother. He'll have to flee Konoha and be hated by his brother. That's what will happen if you fail."

A heavy silence lingered in the forest until Shisui chuckled. "No pressure."

"Oh, don't fret. It's easy. Don't let Cyclops anywhere near you, put your clan under that fancy technique of yours, warn the Hokage that Cyclops is after you, let the Hokage handle Cyclops, bask in peace and a happy life forever and ever. There, easy peasy." I had thought about this a lot, alright?

Because Shisui lived to contradict me, he announced: "I have a meeting with him tomorrow."

"What?! Then don't go!"

"He's an elder, Tsukiyo-chan, you don't just _ignore_ an elder."

I glared at him in vexation. "You're so much trouble, number one. A life supply of almonds isn't worth so much trouble."

oOo

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to convince Shisui to stay away from Cyclops until he had brainwashed his clan. Apparently, the reunion during which he was planning to do so was in five days, too long to play hide and seek with the leader of Root.

As such, I ended up playing bodyguard. I, a little crow, was the last stand between Cyclops and Shisui's eyes. Oh dear, we were screwed.

Pretending to sleep, curled up in a small ball to minimize any interest in me, I stayed silent and listened carefully during the start of the meeting.

Cyclops made his move a few minutes after we walked in. Shisui subdued him easily at first. I straightened up and caught sight of Danzou shifting. Knowing that he was getting ready to retaliate by pulling one of his forbidden techniques, I flew at his head, talons first. "Go!" I shouted at Shisui.

Shisui and I had planned this situation. He knew what he had to do. Although the Cyclops' men tried to intercept him, he wasn't known as Shunshin no Shisui for nothing. He was out of here in a flash.

I… was terrified. Let me say it again: little crow me _not_ combat oriented!

Only driven by desperation, I focused with tunnel vision on the idea to do a maximum of damage to buy time for Shisui. It was all a blur of feathers, claws and bloody bandages until pain broke through panic, and I reverse-summoned myself.

I landed roughly on the branch reserved for summons reappearing on the Ichouki, pain increasing tenfold. There were always crows around, ready to ask all sort of questions, to learn things about our summoners and their missions. They saw me appeared, a bloody mess, and burst into motion, calling for a medic. I vaguely remembered them taking out senbon of my wings, careful not to damage anything more than it was.

"Don't remove those in her body before the medic gets here, she might bleed out," one of them said.

"Just patch me up as best as you can," I mumbled, slurring badly, "Shisui is going to summon me again."

"Is he going to bring you to a medic? They have good ones! Itachi brought me to one of his female friends when I broke my wing in training, once. She was really nice, and her ninken were fun," one chattered. I was pretty sure that it was Higarasu, but I couldn't be bothered to check.

"Here. Eat this for the pain and to stop the bleeding!" Several crows who had left in a rush at my arrival dropped leaves and berries in front of me. I wasn't the first one to come back bloody from a summoning, we knew what to do by now. I ate without enjoyment, feeling like hell.

I felt the warning for a summoning and made sure to keep low to the ground to escape any nasty surprise.

"Tsukiyo-chan! Shit!" A finger carefully brushed me. "I mean… Sorry, Hokage-sama! I don't know any iryou-ninjutsu."

Apparently, even though I couldn't see anything because opening my eyes took too much effort, the Hokage was somewhere around. Good. Trouble Twin number one had followed the plan. Considering that Itachi was supposed to be on guard duty with Hatake Kakashi and Tenzou during this shift, that was the most secure place where Shisui could be right now. Danzou had failed.

A chuckle shook my small and battered frame which made everything hurt.

A warm hand hovered above me and chakra wrapped around me, easing the pain and making it easier to breathe and function.

"That's as much as I can do," a small voice said, "I'm too unfamiliar with birds' anatomy, she will need a vet." The Anbu who had stepped forward to help me disappeared once again in the shadows.

"Thank you," Shisui whispered before carefully lifting me in his arms.

I was now able to see the Sandaime behind his desk. He was smoking with a somber expression.

"Tsukiyo-chan, I already explained to the Hokage what happened, could you report what followed my departure?" Shisui asked.

I chuckled again, this time without shrinking in pain. "The Cyclops is blind."

"What?"

"I clawed his face and gouged his eye out." Now that I had time to realize what had happened, I was pretty proud of myself. Well, it was kinda gross, I have to admit, but it was one of the basic Karasu's fight tactics, and I had rocked it. They were going to love hearing about it at home! The Cyclops who threatened our summoner had lost his eye to the fury of a crow! Hell yeah! That was definitely the kind of stories we liked.

"You… Are you sure?" Shisui asked, a bit startled.

"Oh yeah, I definitely felt it pop, which was a little disgusting. But, anyway, it's not like he will really stay blind."

"What do you mean?" The Sandaime asked, his thoughts carefully guarded.

"He'll get another one implanted. Like the ones on his arm."

"On his arm?"

I hummed, keeping my eyes closed and my body relaxed. I was going to bluff there because I hadn't really seen it, but it was for a good cause. "Yeah. On his bandaged arm. He has eyes on it. Sharingan eyes. There was something else too, but I didn't get a good look before I had to reverse summon myself." To be honest, I didn't really remember what creepy Cyclops had in store. My memories were too vague. They would have to see it by themselves.

"Hokage-sama," Shisui breathed, turning to his leader, wide-eyed.

"Call in all ANBU," the Hokage ordered, standing up. He put down his hat first before removing his robe. "It seems an intervention in ROOT's affairs is overdue."

When the Hokage put his mind to something, there wasn't much that could stop him. Gone was the old man: here was the veteran, leader of thousands deadly shinobi.

Slowly, I relaxed, comforted by the idea that the Hokage was dealing with it. No matter what came out of it, history had been changed.

"I'm going to sleep for a few days," I mumbled. "Don't get killed, Trouble Twins."


	2. The human('s) boyfriend

"Stop staring at me like that, Tsukiyo-chan," Shisui whined. "I feel judged!"

"That's because _I'm_ judging you," I replied, deadpan. "Can you remind me why I saved your life and consequently spent three weeks in recovery? I just can't seem to remember right now."

"Ouch, that hurts, Tsukiyo-chan, it really does!" The teenager pouted at me before clearing his throat. "What about this?"

For the umpteenth time that day, I had to witness Trouble Twin Number One's attempt to become a girl. His henge was perfect. His posture, gait, and mannerisms had improved after the third try. His speech though… was a disgrace to every female being _ever_. "You know what? Just never open your mouth and you'll be fine."

"I can't do that! I'll definitely be introduced to some mundanes!"

Mundanes. This jargon for non-ANBU was strange.

"Pretend to be mute?" I offered, shaking my wings. It had been entertaining at first but standing still to watch this dreadful show was getting tiring.

"Kakashi-senpai will never allow it!"

"He obviously set you up to fail anyway. Why did you ever thought that betting against him was a good idea? You're supposed to be smart," I sighed because this was frankly ridiculous and totally Shisui's fault. Just because he was an ANBU captain, like Itachi (her twins were growing up! How exciting! More trouble coming!) and his senpai Copy Ninja Kakashi, he was getting _ideas_.

"It's just _not_ possible that he always wins! I thought I had figured out his trick!"

"Please," I muttered. "That man has such a depressing life that I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't _need_ to cheat at cards. Karma must be balanced somehow."

"ANBU always cheat! … And how do you know about his life?"

"I have weekly meetings with his ninken. We compare notes about our summoners to check which one is worst."

"Seriously?"

I stared and _judged_.

"Right. You 'just know things'. I thought so," Shisui concluded, unbothered by my glare (oops, I might be using it a little too often if he was desensitized). He (well, no, she, he was still transformed into a woman) startled suddenly and looked toward the home's entrance, wide-eyed. "Crap, they are here!"

I felt them. Itachi was escorting Kakashi inside, but they stopped in the hallway to greet Mikoto. It gave us a few seconds more to come up with a solution… but, apart from a miracle, nothing would make Shisui an acceptable lady in the interval. It seemed I had to save him again, from humiliation this time. I sighed loudly. "Alright, what do I get if I save your hide?"

Shisui looked at me hopefully. "Anything! A life supply of almonds!"

"You already promised me that for saving you from Danzou," I reminded him, yawning exaggeratedly behind my wing.

"A request of your choice! Really, anything!" he offered hurriedly as the two other ANBU captains walked toward them.

"Fine. You owe me," I grumbled. "Change back before you humiliate yourself."

Shisui eagerly complied as Itachi and Kakashi stepped on the patio. I paused to take them in because, damn, they looked good in yukata. Kakashi was in dark grey with blue stripes while Itachi was in black and red. They were depressing but handsomely so.

"So, Shisui-kun," Kakashi chirped with a big eye smile. He was still wearing his mask, but his hitai-ate was gone. "Where is my date?"

"Ah, senpai, she's… uh… here?" Shisui stammered, glancing at me desperately as he realized he didn't know the answer.

"Yes," I agreed, "here." I flew off the tree where I was perched and landed on the ground, a few steps away from Shisui.

There was a moment of silence before Kakashi and Itachi both stared at Shisui and _judged_ him silently. This was clearly the trend of the day.

"Maa, while I do not–" Kakashi started.

I didn't listen to him, focused on molding my chakra. This was really tricky but I had mastered it recently (it just took me three years, no big deal). First, I multiplied myself. Cloning was easy. The tricky part was to transform all of my clones in one solid and seamless being.

I reopened my eyes and checked my body. It looked pretty good, if I could say so myself. Quite pleased by my exploit, I smoothed out my midnight blue kimono and its stylized silver clouds and moon. "Ta-da!" I exclaimed happily, raising my arms (real ones, with hands and no feathers!).

Looking up, I found Shisui blatantly gaping at me while Itachi blinked in surprise, and Kakashi tilted his head. I didn't preen at having surprised them, but I wanted to. "Just check I don't have any feathers behind, would you? I used to have so many in the hair." I turned around and looked over my shoulder. "Shisui? Hello?"

"Uh? Ah, right! No, no feathers anywhere I can see…"

"Then I'm good to go!" I clapped my hands happily, feeling unexpectedly excited at the prospect of going to a festival. Maybe I could admit that humans didn't have only flaws after all…

"I didn't know you could do that, Tsukiyo-san," Itachi noted, his poker face back in place.

"It's a new technique! It took me so much work to perfect it. I finally managed it a few weeks ago. After that, everyone at Ichouki wouldn't stop making me use it. For the opposable thumbs, you see. Those are quite useful," I explained, moving my fingers.

They were the only reason I had decided to create this technique in the first place. Don't get me wrong: being a crow was awesome, nothing could beat flying; but… hands! opposable thumbs! I missed those! I longed for them since I was a fledgling. It was only when the Trouble Twins started to summon me that this became a real need. I was becoming jealous of their hands. It was so ridiculous that I had to go to Yatagarasu-sama to ask if there was a way, to which he had replied: "For every problem, there is a solution. Only one who knows what she misses can get what she wants." In short, I had to sort it out myself but it could be done… and I had done it!

"How long can you sustain it?" Kakashi asked, curious.

"A few hours. Considering how much chakra Shisui gave me, up to four before I'm unsummoned, I think, as long as you feed me and don't make me do anything straining. This is really chakra intensive."

"Can you take a hit?" Shisui asked, extending a finger to poke me.

"Nope," I replied cheerfully, batting his hand away. "But I make a much better lady than you, don't I?"

"I don't doubt that," Kakashi quipped, arms crossed. When Shisui and Itachi turned to him in perfect synchronization and stared at him warily, he added with a chuckle: "Maa, I'm just saying that's a really good henge, Tsukiyo-chan."

"I know right?" I replied happily. Considering the time I spent looking at a mirror to improve this transformation, I wasn't going to play coy. This human form had black hair, pale skin, and grey eyes because that was just obvious but the face had been tricky...

"Any particular reason you look like a mix between Mikoto-san and Yugao-chan?" Kakashi added, obviously knowing the answer, damn him.

I crossed my arms, looked away and mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said that they're the only references I had!" I had forgotten what a pretty human female looked like, alright?! That was extremely embarrassing, and I hadn't realized it was so obvious. That was their fault anyway: why did I meet so few women yet? Because the shinobi world was sexist, that's why!

"Wow, I hadn't realized," Shisui breathed, "but you _do_ look like Mikoto-obasan."

I huffed and turned away (I was _not_ pouting). "If that's a problem you can forget it and be Kakashi-san's da–"

"That's not a problem, not at all!" Shisui said quickly. "If anything, you can just say you're family if anyone asks!"

"Did I hear you talk about me?" A soft voice interrupted. Mikoto was standing behind her oldest son. Sasuke was by her side in a light blue yukata. "Oh, who is this?"

"It's Tsukiyo-san, mother," Itachi explained, "she's under henge."

"Is that so? Fascinating," the old jounin said with a tilt of her head. "Well done, Tsukiyo-chan."

I beamed at her. Mikoto was just awesome, better than the twins and all their troublemakers friends . "Thank you!"

"I leave Sasuke with you while I change," Mikoto said to her eldest son. "Shisui-kun, you need to hurry too."

"Yes! Absolutely! I have to change! In a yukata! For men!" Shisui agreed hastily before disappearing.

I rolled my eyes, tucked a hand under my chin and wondered with a wicked smirk: "What am I going to ask him in exchange? Something big. Something annoying."

"Aniki, your summon is a bit… scary," Sasuke murmured to his brother.

"Maa, she's just my kind of woman," Kakashi countered.

"Senpai," Itachi sighed, looking up at the grey-haired man. "We entrust her to you. Please, behave."

"Don't I always?" Kakashi replied. The deadpan stare he received in answer didn't bother him, but he chuckled after a few seconds and waved a hand up and down. "Don't worry so much, Itachi-kun. I'll take care of her."

"I can take care of myself just fine," I grumbled, mostly out of principle. I walked to Kakashi when he held out his hand to me.

"Of course Tsukiyo-chan. Now, we should go. We'll see everyone later tonight. Say goodbye."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't push it, Silver Head. I'm no child. If anyone takes care of anyone else here, it's me for the Trouble Twins." I was swept in a shunshin by the end of my sentence and clung to Kakashi's yukata. When we reappeared somewhere in Konoha's streets, I leaned against his chest and whined as he steadied me. "I hate this. Why?"

"I thought we could use some time alone to agree on our story."

"Liar," I mumbled, "your social anxiety just makes you uncomfortable when there is a child around."

"Maa… there is that too," he agreed cheerfully before dropping his act and studying her curiously. "You're truly an exceptional summon, Tsukiyo-chan."

I hummed noncommittally, withdrew from him and patted my bun. "I hope you didn't mess my hair because I have no idea how to do it again. I just willed it that way."

"You look perfect," he said, although he tucked a few strands behind my ears.

"Alright," I sighed, "what did you want to talk about? And not the part about our story, we just need to pretend that I'm your new girlfriend, that Shisui introduced us because I'm family, that we're going out for the first time and that's basically it. There was something else."

Kakashi hummed and led me through back alleys. After a series of hand seals, a wave of chakra wrapped around us; a genjutsu, probably to avoid eavesdropping. "I'm aware you won't betray your summoners' trust, but I was wondering what you thought of the Uchiha? Did Shisui's plan worked?"

"Ah," I muttered, finally understanding what this was about.

Six months ago, ANBU had taken action against Danzo and ROOT. From what I had been told, it had been a can of worms. It had taken them days to ensure they had everyone and then weeks to break all the secrets around the shady organization. Even now, I wasn't sure they had everything in order. I wasn't privy to these things.

Two weeks after Danzo's fall (officially, he had fallen ill), when Shisui finally had a few days of respite, he had used his _Kotoamatsukami_ on Fugaku and the Uchiha's clan members preparing the coup d'etat. It was a cloudy day. I remembered it because it had been the first time I was summoned after being hurt. Itachi had done it for a very tired Shisui. Number One had hugged me for an hour. I didn't have the heart to protest my use as a teddy bear. Somehow, using his Mangekyou against his own family, even for a pacifist goal, had weighed on him, although I wouldn't be surprised that he had also been anxious about failure.

In all likelihood, it had worked. The timing was perfect: without Danzo to be an ass and pour oil on the fire, the Uchiha leaders' anger had slowly subsided, leaving them to hope that if they just prove they were trustworthy everything would be resolved soon. Whatever Shisui had done, the Uchiha had thrown themselves in their police work. Konoha's population had been pleasantly surprised by the change after a time of highly volatile and belligerent police officers.

That's what I heard anyway. All I knew was from hearsay… and a little spying here and there, alright. That's probably why Kakashi wanted my opinion: no-one watched out for a little crow in the Uchiha compound.

"It seems so to me. I heard Mikoto-san the other day, she told her husband that an old lady had complimented her for the good work done by the Police recently. I seriously thought Fugaku-san was going to burst from repressed pride."

Kakashi hummed to show he was listening while he led me through busier streets with a hand on the small of my back. The night was falling, and the avenues were lighted by colorful paper lanterns. Friends and families were coming in flocks to enjoy the celebration of Konoha's founding.

"The other day, there was that old man muttering about still being monitored though. You might want to ease up on that. It's give and take, you know. If nothing changes, Shisui's work will be short-lived."

"I'll let the Hokage know."

"Good. Now, buy me food, dear boyfriend!" I demanded, clapping my hands together in joy at the prospect of eating human food.

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked without protest (but somehow I got the impression he would find a way to make Shisui pay the bill).

"Nothing fried," I immediately demanded, wrinkling my nose at some smells. In my previous life I might have liked it, but after being used to a crow diet that seemed foul. "Oooh, corn on a stick! Can I have that? Pleaaase?" I dragged him to a stall, not even registering that I had my hand around his forearm, like a good girlfriend.

An hour later, I had finished my treat (while Kakashi had barely eaten half of his) and was looking for my next one, when Itachi and Shisui finally joined us.

We had met Yamato and Yugao sometime ago. Since we were supposed to be on a date, we were walking around together. This way, we had covered some ground and already met several of Kakashi's acquaintances, including Kurenai who didn't even try to pretend that she wasn't _very_ pleasantly surprised. There was no doubt that everyone around would know that Hatake Kakashi was on a date by the end of the evening (which was the goal so good job to us!). As we walked away, I had heard Kakashi mumbled: "at least Gai is abroad."

"Tsukiyo-chan! How is Kakashi-senpai treating you?" Shisui asked, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"He bought me food," I replied very seriously, showing him the stick. "But now I'm finished. Buy me something!"

Shisui immediately let go of me and visibly sweat-dropped.

"Good idea," Itachi agreed, not letting his cousin protest. "Please, go buy us dango, Shisui."

"Oh for… You already had some, Itachi! I swear, how don't you have rotten teeth yet?" Shisui grumbled but went to do our bidding nonetheless.

Curiously, I watched as Itachi and Kakashi exchanged hand signs. The Trouble Twins had taught me some, for field use, but they were simple orders. I didn't know enough to follow an entire conversation (it's not like I could reply in my original form anyway: no hands… but wings! to fly!), especially when it was so fast and discreet.

Kakashi lazily put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me against his side before leaning down to kiss my hair. It was just a way for him to whisper in my ear: "We're being followed, as planned. We're going to split, and you'll go into the park. We won't be far."

Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? I was the bait! How exciting! To be kidnapped and all that jazz... "Fine, but I want my dango first. I never tried it before, Itachi guards all his treats jealously." For good measure, I raised my chin and dropped a kiss on Kakashi's covered cheek. "Please, honey?"

"Maa, of course, anything for you, sweetheart."

Weren't we cute? And then he shamefully let me go to my death… with dango. I forgave him because dango were good. A little bit stodgy but good. Unfortunately, I was kidnapped before I could finish it. I'm sure Itachi was appropriately outraged by this waste of dango. Personally, I was a little busy playing the helpless girl. I didn't know if it was a good thing that they hadn't knocked me out or not (if they had, I'd have gone "poof"). I was just paralyzed and thrown on the shoulder of some guy as we jumped over the roofs.

When we stopped in a clearing, I felt the ANBU surrounding us. I was put on my feet, a knife to my throat, pressing against my skin. It went deep enough to cut so, of course, I went "poof".

oOo

A week later, I was summoned for one of Itachi's mission as ANBU captain. As we waited for his underlings' signal, I rested on his shoulder and asked: "By the way, my kidnapper last time, did you get him?"

"Yes. He was one of the last agents of… Cyclops, that we know of." He paused to check on his team before adding: "Your boyfriend greatly complimented your work."

"Of course he did, I'm the most low-maintenance girlfriend he could hope for."

"He also mentioned how familiar with human customs you are." Itachi was staring at me. With his mask in the way, it was easy to ignore him. The creepy factor had long ago worn out on me.

"I'm just that good."

"One of those things you know?"

"Precisely."

"It caught the Hokage's attention. He remembered you were the one to warn us about Cyclops."

Oops?

"He requested to speak with you."

"And you agreed."

"Unless you can give me a good reason not to, I will. However, whether you reply to him or not is up to you considering that the contract protects the secrets of your kind."

I snapped my beak and flapped my wings as I thought it through. Did I want to speak to the Hokage? I had changed the Uchiha's fate and I knew a lot more that could affect the world. But should I? It was more trouble than I liked and it wasn't my business… except that anything impacting Konoha would have repercussions on the Trouble Twins, and I would inevitably be summoned in the middle of it.

Now that I had helped with Cyclops (Did I mention that I was very proud that his nickname stuck? Granted, Itachi was only using it for the sake of discretion but still!), how could I stop there? I had stepped into a dangerous spiral.

My musings were interrupted by the signal we were waiting for. I took off and used the distraction created by the ANBU to perform my own mission: pilfering a scroll. I was becoming a good thief, a real magpie.

After performing my role flawlessly (yes, I was preening), I enjoyed some petting and asked: "Bargaining with the Hokage, is it a big no-no?"

Itachi's team stared at me like I had blasphemed, but Itachi, following my train of thought without trouble, replied without missing a beat: "Bargains are commonplace between different parties."

"I'll talk to him."

oOo

"I know more than you could ever guess and less than you could hope for."

As an introduction, I thought it was pretty good. It definitely summed up my knowledge quite well.

The Hokage seemed to approve. He put his hat away and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Anything you'd like to share with us would be greatly appreciated, Tsukiyo-san."

I spread my wings to secure my balance on my perch, a chair's back, as I uneasily clawed the wood. I was right in front of the Hokage with Shisui and Itachi at my back, on each side. Officially, that was it, although Kakashi was probably on watch somewhere around with his team.

"It all depends on the price you'll give me in exchange."

"Of course," the Hokage said, unperturbed by the idea of bargaining with a crow. "What do you wish for?"

"Well, personally, a life supply of almonds is good enough for me and I already got that. However, now I have to make sure that the Trouble Twins don't die early and renege on our deal, you see," I explained very seriously, ignoring Shisui as he cleared his throat in a foolish and embarrassed attempt to make me shut up.

"Of course," the Hokage agreed, clearly indulging me and hiding his amusement.

"So, I want your word that they'll be able to leave the ANBU corps at any time of their choosing without delay and repercussions."

The Sandaime tilted his head curiously. "Agreed."

"In Itachi's case, the end of his service will happen at the latest the day before his fifteenth birthday."

"Tsukiyo-san..." Itachi tried to protest.

"Shut up, Trouble Twin number two. Three years of service is enough. You know I'm right. You'll go back to being a regular jounin, and then you'll become the best jounin sensei ever seen since the Sandaime, end of story." There was a heavy silence for a few seconds before I deigned to look back at him. "Am I wrong?" I knew I wasn't. There wasn't a better role for Itachi than jounin sensei. When he wasn't stressed or overworked, he was an excellent teacher for his little brother and he liked it.

Itachi stared at me silently before replying: "I do not pretend to be able to emulate Sandaime-sama."

I sighed and shook my wings. "Fine. The Yondaime will do. Details. Back on track. That's for Number Two. Number One is a little crazier," (I ignored his little cry of protestation) "so he'll resign when he wants to. I'll just harass him into resigning if need be."

To the Uchiha's surprise, the Hokage chuckled as he played with his pipe. "It's good to see you take care of your summoners, Tsukiyo-san. I agree with your request for Itachi's retirement."

"Good. Well, that's all I wanted, so I guess it's my turn to give you something... Here's what I know about Orochimaru, his minions and his plans…"

oOo

"I can't remember why I thought getting summons was great. They just embarrass you every chance they get," Shisui grumbled, arms crossed while leaning against a tree, purposely away from me. He was pouting.

I ignored him, content to cuddle against Itachi's cheek, who had accepted my masterful plan gracefully and was feeding me almonds in between some petting.

"They say it's their privilege so that we don't become big-headed," Kakashi explained as he suddenly appeared, a second after his favorite ninken. We were waiting for him to inform us of a meeting with the Intelligence Division. The Hokage had stopped me mid-way through when I had started to give him a list of (mangled) names. Apparently, experts were needed to make sense of all the data I had to offer. "Get used to it."

"Damn right." Pakkun and I said at the same time, immediately smirking at each other.

Being a summon was great. I got away with so much more than if I was a mere kunoichi thanks to the contracts, and I had to deal with so much less pressure, especially considering my summoners had to be present with me for official meetings and the Trouble Twins had a reputation behind which I could hide.

Reincarnating was cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are the original two chapters of this fic, the fix-it version.  
> There is another version where Tsukiyo failed to save Shisui which I'll publish as a new part of the series.  
> It's also possible I might write more about this fix-it universe (let me know if you would be interested, and if so what you would like to see), but it would be in a separate story.  
> So if you like Tsukiyo, be sure to subscribe to _The Guardian Crow_ series so you won't miss anything.
> 
> You can also find me on http://dianamoth.tumblr.com/ and https://www.fanfiction.net/u/343400/
> 
> Also, **Melo** has made a lovely fanart of crow!Tsukiyo and the trouble twins! It's perfect. Check it out: [twitter.com/Melo4679/status/1036697365405609984](https://twitter.com/Melo4679/status/1036697365405609984)


End file.
